Many games have a super-hard difficulty setting, usually called Nightmare mode. But Doom could have the hardest mode yet: Ultra-Nightmare mode.
So how apt is the name? Ultra-Nightmare mode is apparently so difficult that even the creators of the game can't beat it.
IGN spoke with Doom developer id Software, which admitted that no one at the company has yet completed the game on the Ultra-Nightmare setting.
That's probably because anyone playing in Ultra-Nightmare mode goes back to the very beginning of the game if they die, with nothing to show for any progress made up to that point. It's likely, though, that once the game comes out, speedrunners will accept that challenge and someone will manage gameplay with that setting in record time by exploiting certain features of the game.
For now, though, the Ultra-Nightmare setting remains unbeatable, although id Software told IGN that its employees are in a competition with each other to see who gets the furthest in the game on that setting.
Doom's multiplayer feature recently got mixed reviews after the beta, so the company now plans on focusing a little more on the game's single-player mode. But don't expect Doom to have a sweeping story line: this game is not an RPG.
"We don't put story front and center at all," id Software executive producer Marty Stratton said to IGN. "Doom is about doing this, fighting demons, using awesome guns. It hasn't been a huge focus necessarily, but as I mentioned, we've tried to infuse a lot of mystery and a story that will keep you kind of playing and digging, if you want it. We kind of say we keep it pushed out of the way a little bit and have you diving into trying to figure it out."
Publisher Bethesda Softworks recently released a video with 1 hour of Doom's single-player campaign.
Longtime Doom fans will also get rewarded for exploration in the new game: each level contains a hidden lever that, when pulled, opens a secret door that transports players back in time to the original Doom.
Doom lands on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on May 13.
